EMC208 Answer the Phone? 2/3
To:   Emergency Communications Units - Information Bulletin
To:   Emergency Management Agencies via Internet and Radio
By:   Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS) of the
      California Governor's Office of Emergency Services  

EMC208 Answer the Phone? 2/3  For release  11/1/99

When the RO arrived at the agency office, the requesting
manager was quite surprised to discover WHO had actually
responded to his need, but was pleased to have competent
assistance.
 
Assigned a desk, the RO set about taking incoming telephone
calls. He followed the agency standard process of handling
incoming reports (messages) (wrote time/date, who called,
and summary on a tablet.) In addition to responding to phone
calls he became familiar with each of the various office
machines the agency had in use (copier, FAX, printer,  etc.)

One out-of-the-ordinary call was from a very upset woman
who had lost her home in the flood and wanted to know "where is
the money I've been promised from FEMA". When she was advised 
that "This isn't FEMA", she cried "but you are the Office of
Emergency Services and this is an Emergency!"

Mentally, the RO had a chuckle at her reasoning, and proceeded to
ask questions and listen.  Essentially she'd been going around
in circles trying to get an answer, but that office was not the
one able to help. However, he explained WHY it couldn't help,
and who could and how to reach them. When she hung up she felt
better and knew where to go because a person sensitive to her
tone of voice was able to calm her and point her in the right
direction. Perhaps that was the most important event of the day
for both of them. It certainly wasn't the typical "radio
operations" that the EMCOMM unit participant expects from unit
activity.

That RO was what some could call a "problem solver" and an
"opportunist".  By midday, he'd formulated an idea for improving
on the data capture process, and asked permission to look at the
programs on the computer of the person at whose desk he'd been
assigned. Receiving that, he found a relatively unused program in
which to create a new INCOMING MESSAGES form. The remainder of
the day he tested it to ascertain how well it might work in place
of the then-in-use handwritten form.

At the end of the day, the RO handed that Manager a computer
generated printout of incoming message activity in the format
to which the Manager was accustomed. Since it was a Laser print,
and many times easier to read due to the way it was setup, his
eyes went wide with surprise and delight at the ease with 
which he could scan the detail. That, and a slightly different 
summary than what he'd previously had received, lead to a hearty
response, "This is Great. Thank You!"

(For what happened to the General, see bulletin 209).
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EOM